


20/20 in future sight

by LeDiz



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance, Unifinished, but not, certainty is sometimes complicated, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 09:46:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7527931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mamoru has seen the future he'll have with Usagi, and he loves her. That should be enough to overcome any issues they could possibly have. Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	20/20 in future sight

His name was even Kitsune.

Of course it was Kitsune. He looked like a fox, too – slanted blue eyes and rusty hair that stuck out in two messy triangles, either side of his head. Mamoru wouldn’t have been surprised if he had particularly pointed canines. All the more proof of a fox trying to steal a rabbit.

Mamoru frowned, watching from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t spying on Usagi, or Kitsune, for that matter. He wasn’t even hiding. It just so happened that he decided to pick her up from school today, but thought she might like it better if she ‘ran into him’, like old times. That was the only reason he’d stopped down the block from the school, and was leaning on the corner, gazing sideways.

He wasn’t jealous, after all. What did he have to be jealous of? He and Usagi were destined to be together – he’d even met the daughter they were going to have. Why should he be jealous of some creepy little kid who just happened to be the same age as Usagi and could make her laugh and talk to her about the same books and movies and see her every day at school and meet her parents without being accused of paedophilia and—

_What could he possibly have to be jealous of?_

After all, it wasn’t like Usagi had even suggested she liked this Kitsune guy. She hadn’t even mentioned him. Ever. Despite the fact they apparently spent every free afternoon together at the arcade while he was at school. She’d have mentioned him if he was important. He wouldn’t have had to find out from Motoki. She would have told him, and they could have talked about him, and he would have been able to brush off Motoki’s concern with more than his own assurance in her love for him.

Because she did love him. They were destined to be together. They were going to get married and have a daughter and rule a kingdom, and he had _absolutely nothing_ to worry about.

He ducked back around the wall, and could only listen as Usagi laughed at something Kitsune said.

 

* * *

 

 

“Sh! We have to be quiet or they’ll hear us!”

Tuxedo Mask nodded silently, and Sailor Moon gave him one last look before nodding herself and turning to open the window. She looked like she’d done this a thousand times, sneaking into her own house at the dead of night, but he swallowed despite himself. He hadn’t actually been inside her house before – they always went to his house, where there were no disapproving parents to raise eyebrows at the college student taking advantage of the naive middle schooler.

And while what they were doing was perfectly innocent—or, as innocent as superheroes could be after their battles—it still felt wrong, somehow, sneaking into his girlfriend’s bedroom at midnight.

Thank goodness for Luna, leaping in after them and sitting primly on the bed. “I still say we should have gone to the hospital.”

“Ahh, _Lu_ -na!” Sailor Moon admonished quietly. “Knock it off already. We decided we shouldn’t go to the hospital a long time ago!”

“It would be hard explaining how we got the injuries,” Tuxedo Mask added, and he sat down on the bed with a groan. He’d been leaping around rooftops for so long now that climbing in through the window had been easy, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t grateful to be able to sit down. His back _ached_.

“But you’re not a doctor!” Luna shot back at Sailor Moon. “What if the wounds get infected?”

She started to look worried, but Tuxedo Mask quickly smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Cleaning and dressing wounds is scarier than it is hard. Are you sure you’ll be okay to do it?”

“Mm!” She nodded firmly, then glanced over her shoulder at the door. “I’ll go and get the first aid kit. You try and rest.”

With a quick flash of light and a burst of feathers and ribbons, Sailor Moon was gone, and Usagi slipped out into the hallway. Tuxedo Mask stared after her for a moment, then sighed and allowed his own transformation to fade. Mamoru winced at the suddenly increased pain, but then leaned forward to pull off his shirt. “Well, Luna? How does it look?”

“Hmm…” The cat prowled around to peer at his back appraisingly. “Not as bad as I thought. Mostly bruising. Perhaps this isn’t such a bad introduction to real first aid.”

He chuckled. “You thought it would be too much for her, didn’t you.”

“Well, you have to admit she isn’t one to take bloody messes calmly,” she pointed out, moving back around to look up at his face. “Not to mention that princesses aren’t usually field medics.”

“They aren’t usually on the front lines, either,” he argued, but the debate was left there as the door opened and Usagi slipped back in, only doing a quick double-take before accepting his appearance with a quick blush and ducked head.

“I brought the kit,” she said needlessly, lifting it in front of her and not quite meeting his gaze. He inwardly sighed. She’d seen him without his shirt before – she’d taken it off him, before. But for some reason she always blushed in more casual situations, like this, or when they went swimming. Of course, he reminded himself, her Sailor Moon uniform never affected him the way her body did when covered by long, silky dresses, so perhaps he wasn’t one to talk.

But he didn’t say anything, and she quietly made her way over to sit down beside him, cracking open the kit and then crawling into the space between him and the wall. He felt a soft touch between his shoulder blades and tried not to hiss, but apparently his flinch was enough, because she quickly pulled back.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll – I’ll try and be quick.”

“No. Take your time,” he said firmly. “If you go quick, you’ll miss things.”

“Oh… right. Okay.”

She felt guilty. Of course she did. The fact that he’d done everything he had of his own free will… He inwardly sighed, then did it outwardly as the first disinfectant pad brushed over his back. Usagi hesitated, then continued, a little firmer this time.

The monster, this week, was some oversized humanoid cat with some kind of grudge against girls and their legs. Not human on the inside, for once, which was a nice change, but still dangerous. Its claws had been detachable and constantly regenerating, so all he and the soldiers could do was dodge and try to get the occasional shot in. More than anything, Sailor Moon was an excellent dodger, so in hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have been so concerned, but he’d been so preoccupied with keeping an eye on her that he forgot his own back. Literally. It was usually covered by his cape, anyway, and virtually nothing could pierce that. Three claws getting under it, however…

One of Usagi’s legs stretched out beside him, and he glanced down at it, smirking at the reminder of why he’d been so set on destroying this monster. He had a vested interest in keeping those legs whole, after all.

He slid one finger down the length of Usagi’s calf, and she matched his earlier sigh with one of her own.

“Honestly, Mamo-chan, you’re injured!” she protested, and pulled it up to rest against his arm instead. He smirked again – that was a promise more than it was a denial.

But she had a point, so he turned away to instead focus on the dimly lit bedroom instead, trying to ignore the sharp pains in his back. Although he had looked through the window a few times, refusing to admit just how much of a stalker that made him feel like, he’d never actually been inside – never been close enough to see what most of it was.

It was… stuff, mostly. The sort of collection you couldn’t describe in any other way. Manga, of course, and stuffed animals, cassettes and a few select CDs. But not enough of anything to give one priority over the other. There were a lot of nameless boxes, too, that he’d have to open to see what they held.

He lowered his eyes to the patterned purple bedspread, running his hand over one of the rabbits, then raised his eyes back up to the walls. There were no posters. A few photographs, but nothing to tell a casual observer much about her. It was that sort of room, he decided finally. It gave away nothing about its owner, except that she liked rabbits and stars. With her name, the rabbits came as a matter of course, and stars were omnipresent in all girls’ decoration these days, so not even that told you much.

In a way, his own home was much the same, he knew. He had a few books, but they were mostly for school – he preferred to use the library. He liked to say he just didn’t have the space to put anything, but maybe it was more that he liked a person’s personality to say more about them than their room.

He wondered what their house would be like when Usagi moved in with him. Her room was much softer, more… home-like than his. Messier, too. But then, she was the one that would be going out and making herself queen… maybe he’d become a domesticated house-husband and spend all his time until she did cleaning up and cooking.

The thought made him grimace, and then sigh.

Whenever he thought about his future with Usagi, he always ended up thinking about the future they _knew_. Neo-Queen Serenity and her husband, King Endymion. Their daughter, Neo Tokyo... It all seemed far away, and disconnected from this world… the real world, where he was studying to become a doctor and Usagi had trouble getting through every test.

It was always ‘when’, with them. Never if.

He loved it, on the one hand – who didn’t like that kind of security? He knew Usagi truly loved him, not his money or his looks or his smarts, and that she’d never choose another over him, because he’d seen the proof in the form of a hyperactive eight year old with pink hair. But at the same time…

They hadn’t gone through the steps. They’d bantered and argued and that had kind of been flirting, in a twisted way. But then they’d remembered their past lives and the love they shared and that was it. Suddenly, after the amnesia issue of course, they were suddenly together. Not even dating – they were just ‘together’, like lovers that had been going out since lower school. A month after that, Mamoru was dreaming of asking her to marry him, because he’d loved this girl for millennia – of course he’d marry her.

Then they’d found out who Usa-chan was, and… well.

He’d never asked her out on a date. Not even once. Technically, they went on dates all the time, but it was more that one of them mentioned wanting to go somewhere, and the other agreed to go with them. They didn’t go out to dinner, though she’d often come to his house to eat. They’d have tea, or lunch, but it was always casual. They rarely dressed up for each other, and never _just_ for each other.

He hadn’t really ever spoken to her parents. They had no idea who he was. He knew them in a very basic sense – if her father wasn’t prone to glaring every time his name was mentioned, he might greet them on the street, but that was about it.

Sometimes, when she huffed aloud and pretended to ignore him, or went on some big, emotional speech that defied all logic and yet made perfect sense somehow, or tripped over her own feet and bit back tears of shock and pain, he wondered whether they ever would have made it far as normal humans. Whether they ever would have gotten past ‘arrogant guy’ and ‘dumpling head’. He found those silly things adorable now, and yes, he had begun to see them that way before they found out about each other, but sometimes he wondered if that was just their past lives drawing them together.

Small hands stilled on his back, and he glanced over his shoulder. Usagi didn’t look up, her eyes shut tight and shoulders shuddering.

“Usa-ko…?”

“Please…” she whispered, and then leaned forward until her forehead could rest on his shoulder. He felt a tear drip onto his bare skin, but Usagi made no sound, only the tears and shuddering shoulders showing the sadness. “Please don’t do this again. Don’t get hurt for me. Please. Don’t…”

“Usa-ko…” He twisted around to pull her into his front. She leaned into him, but didn’t hug him back, pressing her balled fists against his chest. He shook his head. “I’m fine. Really. And you couldn’t really expect me to just stand by and let you –”

“That’s exactly what you should do!” she cried, pushing away to stare up at him, eyes wide and shining. “If – if it’s a choice between me and you, I – I couldn’t stand it…! I’ve almost lost you so many times, and I can’t…! I just can’t do it again!” she wailed, and pushed back into him, the tears flowing thicker and faster now. “Especially not for my sake. So please, if you have to do something… just… just keep yourself safe. For me. Please. Don’t ever get hurt for me again.”

“Usa-ko…” He brushed down her hair, and then softly kissed the top of her head. “I love you. But that – standing by and watching you get hurt. That’s the one thing I could never do. I’m sorry.”

“You idiot,” she sobbed into his chest. “What good is it if I live and you don’t?”

He just shook his head and pulled her closer, kissing her hair again. He had nothing to say to that, because he knew exactly how she felt. But it went further for him. He knew she wouldn’t die – he’d met Usa-chan, after all. But he couldn’t stand seeing her hurt, either.

He gently pushed her back, then ducked his head to press their lips together. She didn’t respond at first, even frowning when he pulled back, but she moved up into him when he ducked again.

“We’ll both be fine,” he murmured against her lips. “We know that. So don’t worry, alright?”

“Mamo-chan…” she breathed hopelessly, but kissed him back this time. Her hands slipped up and over his shoulders, curling around his head, and he shifted until her raised leg curved around his hip. Her other leg automatically rose to accommodate him, until her thigh and calf were bent over his lap, her torso pressed against his.

They both grinned at Luna’s impatient muttering, and then wider at the sound of her jumping out the window, but didn’t pull away. In fact, Usagi untangled her leg to hitch herself up onto his lap proper, so he didn’t have to bend to meet her lips. His arms lowered, hands sliding down her back and then up again, pushing under the hem of her shirt, and she mumbled something inaudible against his tongue.

“Usagi-chan…?”

They both froze, eyes snapping open to stare at each other. The door was opening. Oh, god, _the door was opening_!

Usagi leapt off him, twisting fast to get under the covers, and Mamoru tumbled down into the shadows at the foot of the bed, yanking his shirt down after him to cover his bare chest and thanking every deity out there that he’d been wearing black before transforming. Then he started praying, because all the black clothes in the world couldn’t hide someone that well from a metre away.

Usagi’s mother peered into the room, light from the hallway spilling out behind her. “Usagi? Are you alright? I thought I heard you crying.”

“Mama?” Usagi’s voice trembled from nerves, and Mamoru just hoped it sounded enough like sleep. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re not having another nightmare, are you, honey?”

He frowned. It shouldn’t have surprised him, but he didn’t know she’d been having nightmares.

“Oh, n-no, I’m fine,” she said quickly. “I’m just having trouble going to sleep.”

Mamoru could swear he heard Luna snickering. He vowed to find a threat that would work and not make her laugh harder.

He doubted he could, but dammit if he wouldn’t try.

 

* * *

 

 

“It was so romantic, he waited _so long_ for her and when she comes back he’s right there, and you could just _hear_ the silent ‘and I always will be!’”

Mamoru grimaced as the girls all sighed, romantic visions in their heads due to whatever cartoon they were talking about this time. He’d never watched any of them, of course, and he wasn’t planning on it. He did a lot of childish, girly things now, hanging out with Usagi and her friends so much, but he was not going to start watching cartoons. He hadn’t even watched cartoons when _he_ was fifteen.

“It was a pretty good ending, but man, did that battle feel like an anti-climax or what? We sat through years of swords and powerups and bigger, badder good guys and for what? As wish to make it all better?”

Still, glancing sideways at the high school boys leaning over the booth to talk to the girls, _knowing_ what they were talking about… not just pretending to, or pretending to enjoy it, but getting into the conversation just as much as the girls…

“But that was like, the whole point. For centuries, everyone had been caught up in this stupid battle, and it could never end because people were always willing to fight for it. But, sometimes, if you’re just willing to talk and let things go, you get a happy ending!”

“You’re such a girl!”

“Well, duh.”

Mamoru sighed and looked up at Motoki, who was wiping down the counter with a small smile on his face. That just made Mamoru glare a little more. “How do you put up with it?”

“Hmm?”

“That,” he said, gesturing to the conversation. “All day, every day. How do you put up with it?”

“I tune it out, most of the time,” he said with a shrug. “Sometimes I listen. It can be kind of interesting – you actually start to get into it. I never watched an episode of that Sailor V show, but I can tell you all about it. I started to really look forward to the daily recaps. And I never had to sit through the girly bubbles and longing looks.”

Mamoru raised an eyebrow, but decided not to tell Minako about that. She’d read far too much into it. “It would frustrate the hell out of me.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because you take life too seriously,” he said, but then stopped and leaned on the counter, his rag on his hip. “Is this about Usagi?”

“No, I’m talking about the other group of teenagers giggling about a children’s television show.”

“You’re sarcastic, but I see at least three more of them in here,” he pointed out, and folded his arms over his waist. “Seriously, though. Do you get annoyed with Usagi going on about those shows all the time?”

He shrugged. “She doesn’t really talk about them with me. Sometimes the girls will bring it up, and they’ll start chattering, but I’m not expected to get in on it.”

“Okay, so… what do you guys talk about?” he asked blankly. “I mean, every time I hear you guys actually talking, and not just making googly noises at each other—”

“I am _not_ googly.”

“—it’s about Usagi’s school work. Or Chibi-Usa. Don’t you guys ever talk about anything else?”

“Of course we do!” he said, a little faster than he’d actually intended. “We talk about the stuff around us. Like when we went to that garden last week, we talked all day about flowers and stuff. And sometimes, we talk about stuff we like to do, like ice skating…”

“Uh huh. What about, you know… junk? Books, TV, music… don’t you ever just chat?”

Mamoru rolled his eyes, shifting a little to the side with a scoff. But the movement allowed him to catch sight of a boy gaining enough courage to slide into the booth beside Usagi. With bright orange spiky hair and slanty eyes.

Still talking and laughing about that damn cartoon.

 

* * *

 

 

Ami was staring at him.

The girls and he had gone over to Makoto’s house for dinner. At first, he hadn’t been sure why, and kept asking Usagi if he hadn’t heard about someone’s birthday again, but it turned out it was just for fun. They’d all helped out (Usagi was in charge of presentation and nothing else), and then sat down. He’d listened with half an ear as they exchanged school gossip and jokes, and joined in a little when the conversation turned to clothes (the girls insisted he had no fashion sense, which he happily argued), and when the topic turned to boys, he gave male opinions and focussed more on Usagi’s hand entwined with his, resting on his thigh.

Then Makoto had pulled out a board game and they’d sat on the floor in front of the TV, trying to cheat and calling out cheaters, until one of the game’s questions prompted a discussion, which turned into a conversation about astrology. Everything began to calm down, and it wasn’t too long before they were all blinking sleepily, and Usagi had begun dozing against his shoulder.

Minako and Makoto were still trying to figure out their perfect astrological match, but Rei was slumped against the table, half asleep and happily toying with a board game marker. Mamoru had been silently enjoying Usagi’s breath against his neck until he noticed Ami staring.

“What is it?” he asked quietly, and she started, then blushed.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare, I was – I mean – that is –”

“She’s jealous,” Rei mumbled, shifting a little to look at him. She smiled, a touch sadly. “We all are, a little.”

“Huh?”

“It must be nice, being in love,” Makoto sighed, touching her cheek and snapping Mamoru’s attention over to her. “Being able to be so honest with each other.”

“Mm… no secrets about having to disappear all the time,” Minako said dreamily. “No holding back to pretend you’re weaker than you really are…”

“It’s not just secrets,” Ami pointed out. “Remember, that one who knew about me.”

“Oh, that’s right, Ami, I’m sorry.”

“What?” Mamoru asked, glancing between them. “What boy?”

“A boy, back in the early days, that was a reincarnated youma,” Makoto explained quietly. “His special power was that he could see the future. He knew who Ami was. And he liked it.”

“But it still got in the way,” Ami said softly, lowering her eyes to Usagi. “He said it didn’t bother him, but he didn’t like that I was fighting evil and… and he – he didn’t want to end up monster bait for me. And I didn’t want that for him, either.”

“So you broke up to protect him?” he asked, wincing at his own memories, and Ami nodded once.

“But you and Usagi don’t have that – you protect each other,” Makoto said with a smile.

“And you never had to tell each other the truth – it just happened. Because you’ve been in love forever,” Minako added. “Whereas every boy that I’ve ever tried to date…”

“In the end, you have to decide whether to tell him and hope he accepts you, or let him go, thinking you’re a flake.” Makoto sighed again, shaking her head. “Being a flake is easier.”

“But the chase is still nice,” Minako said. “It’s always fun being able to flirt even though it might not go anywhere!”

“That’s true!”

Rei’s eyes rolled back to Mamoru. “You two never really had that, did you? You went from getting on each other’s nerves all the time to being… this,” she said, and Mamoru frowned at her quietly appraising look. “And there’s never any doubt. You know what’s going to happen. Must be nice, that security.”

And there it was.

He looked away from those knowing eyes, down at Usagi’s hair buns, and pressed his lips against one as he murmured, “Yeah…”

 

* * *

 

 

He hadn’t given Usagi a key to his place, but he didn’t often lock his door unless he knew he’d be out for a long time, so he sometimes came home to find her there.

Sometimes she’d be playing with his stereo, or reading one of his books with that perplexed expression on her face, trying to read kanji she didn’t understand. Sometimes she’d be trying to cook, or clean (he wished she didn’t – he appreciated the thought, but she really wasn’t very good at it).

Sometimes he’d come home and she’d just be sitting on the couch reading one of her own books, or sleeping, as if it were her room as much as his. He liked those times best.

This time, though, he knew he’d locked his door because he had to unlock it to get in. And yet he still opened the door to see Sailor Moon on his couch, curled around one of his bed pillows.

For a fraction of a second, he stopped in shock, but then quickly shut the door behind him and kicked off his shoes to step inside. “Usa-ko?”

“Mamo-chan,” she murmured, looking up at him from under her lashes. But she didn’t move, just watched him walk toward her and stop still a metre away.

They just continued gazing at each other in silence, until Mamoru sighed and set his hand on his hip. “What is it?”

She didn’t answer, her eyes falling to the space between his feet and the couch. He frowned, wondering if this had something to do with why she was Sailor Moon right now, and took a slow few steps toward her. After a while, he sat down beside her, but she still only looked at him from beneath her lashes.

“You know, Mamo-chan,” she began quietly, and he hunched forward despite himself, as if he would miss something by being further away. She didn’t seem to notice. “Today, the demon we fought…”

His frown deepened. He had sensed it, but he hadn’t felt that searing pain that meant she was in trouble, and he was behind on his classes as it was. Now he was starting to think he should have gone anyway.

“I know you love me,” she said, and he blinked at the non-sequitur.

“What? Usa-ko, of course I do.”

“Mm. I know,” she said, then looked away again. “But…”

“But…?” he prompted. He had no idea where this was going.

“Do you…” She hesitated again, her cheeks blushing red. “Am I… We never…”

He waited as she struggled for a few more half-sentences, then sighed again. “Usa-ko. What happened today?”

She blushed a little deeper, but nodded. “The demon was aimed at people’s desires, today.”

“Yeah…?” he prompted.

“I mean… physical desires,” she said, glancing at him meaningfully, but he could only stare. It wasn’t all that unusual – the things they fought were usually after what people were passionate about. Her blush faded a little as her eyebrow did that little tick it so often did when he was being particularly dense. “You know… the type between two people?”

“Physical desire between… oh.” He blinked, feeling his own cheeks heat. “Well, I mean, that’s not that unusual. We’ve fought kissing demons –”

“Honestly, Mamo-chan!” she cried, her blush returning as she stared at him outright. “More than kissing.”

He blanched. Okay, that was a new kind of passion. “M- you mean… oh.” Then it really hit him and he lunged forward, snatching her shoulders and pulling her to face him. “Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine. We’re all fine, it’s just…” She looked away, her blush practically emanating heat as she pushed her fingers together awkwardly. “It made me think… I mean… you and me… Mamo-chan…”

Ohhh… right. Um. He sat back again, pushing his hands between his knees instinctively. “How we’ve never…?”

“And even when we kiss, it – you don’t – compared to some boys…” She sighed, hunching her shoulders. “I know you love me, but… do you… want… me…?”

He made a point of keeping his eyes forward and not on those beautiful, long, flexible legs. “That’s…”

“Because I know I’m younger, and there are a lot of older, more beautiful girls, who – who don’t cry or wear their hair in silly buns and they wear sexy clothes and I understand all that, but I know you love me for me, and every time I try to act like more than me you end up telling me I’m being silly so I don’t even try anymore but it seems like the more me I am the less adult I am so I can totally understand why you’d want the grown-up, sexy women with the short mini-skirt suits and the –” She cut herself off for a breath, but that seemed to be the last of her restraint as she suddenly burst into tears, burying her head in the pillow.

But for once, Mamoru didn’t even feel a need to touch or comfort her, instead just staring straight ahead with a pained grimace.

Mamoru had never been exactly on-point when it came to relationships. Whether that was romance or the more physical side, he had always been pretty clueless. Part of him justified it by saying he was a gentleman and didn’t want to take advantage of the girl he was with—especially not Usagi—but truth be told it was more that he just never quite caught on to what he was supposed to do when.

So yeah, it often wasn’t until he saw Usagi blatantly leaning up for a kiss that he realised it was time for a kiss. He never cut off emotional issues at the pass because he never saw them coming. And this…

This was out of the blue.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want her. Oh, wow, did he want her. He was just always grateful that the dreams people got to see were the ones he had about their wedding day, not the night after.

It was just… well… weren’t these things supposed to be special? At least the first time. After a romantic night of dinner and dancing, he was supposed to take her back to a petal-strewn bed and… But every time they even tried to have a romantic evening, they ended up joined by the girls, if not some evil creature bent on stealing someone’s dreams or something. Not exactly the ideal set-up for the evening.

And it wasn’t like it would never happen. He’d met their daughter, after all. She didn’t just pop out of thin air. Well… not biologically speaking, anyway… So he knew they got there eventually, and he could bide his time and libido until the right moment.

He glanced at Usagi sideways, just as she was recovering from this latest batch of tears, and they looked at each other for a long moment. He hesitated another second, then murmured, “I could show you just how strange I find your concern, right now. But do you really want it to be because of some monster?”

She just let out a weak sigh and looked away, shaking her head in some unnamed emotion.

He should have forced the conversation to continue. Should have sorted everything out there and then. It was a conversation they would have needed to have, if they didn’t know the future already.

As it was, she stood up and walked away, and he let her.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic that's been sitting unfinished on my hard drive for years. I decided to post it in case anyone was interested, wanted to adopt it, or just found it mildly entertaining.
> 
> For the record, I only watched a few episodes of Crystal, so this is almost definitely based in the 90s version. Somewhere between S and Super S, most likely - I'm not sure... anyway. Thanks for reading!


End file.
